The present invention relates to storage cabinets for tape cassettes or the like, and more particularly to such cabinets in which ejectors are provided to at least partially eject selected cassettes from a housing.
A variety of constructions have been proposed for cabinets in which tape cassettes are stored in slots or compartments arranged in a row. These cabinets often include an ejector mechanism that normally retains the cassettes within the slots but, when actuated, ejects them to a position in which they can be easily grasped and removed. One such previously known cabinet is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,990 to McRae. Although this cabinet has many advantageous features, it requires two interacting moving parts to form the ejector for each slot, and it would be desirable to avoid expense and complexity by using only one such part. Another previously known cabinet is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,969,007 to Lowry. It reduces the number of ejector parts to one by using sharply defined hinge points of greatly reduced thickness at the rear of the ejector where it bends as it is compressed when actuated. The concentration of stresses at these hinge points may serve to weaken the ejectors causing them to break or lose their resilience.
A disadvantage associated with both of the cabinets discussed above is that they leave the open ends of the slots uncovered when not in use, exposing the cassettes to dirt and detracting from the appearance of the device. The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a cabinet for tape cassettes that effectively overcomes the above disadvantages of the prior art.